Teresa Palmer on being a mum, stepmum and star of Hacksaw Ridge

SHE is a Hollywood darling but Australian actor Teresa Palmer — star of Hacksaw Ridge — plans to give birth to her second bub in her hometown.

SHE has played a kick-ass alien (I Am Number 4) and a zombie girlfriend (Warm Bodies), but Teresa Palmer says stepmother is her most challenging role to date.

That’s only because the Hacksaw Ridge star refuses to turn in a conventional “performance.”

Palmer’s husband, Mark Webber, split up with actor Frankie Shaw a few months after their son Isaac, now 8, was born.

“We had to work at it but we now have this beautiful relationship where we literally co-parent,’’ said the 30-year-old actor in Sydney yesterday.

“We always say (Isaac) gets double the amount of love.

“It took us about a year but open, honest, authentic communication was everything and we got there!’’

When Palmer gave birth to Bodhi, now 2, she and Webber asked Shaw to be his godmother.

And the two women have built such a strong relationship, Palmer was recently invited to be a bridesmaid at the latter’s wedding.

“She is a very conscious-minded woman and we are very conscious-minded people ourselves.

“And because we all have a similar way of doing life we know that it’s in the best interests of all of our children, including Mark and my children, that there is this beautiful relationship between all of us,” said Palmer, who was in town for the premiere of Mel Gibson’s critically- acclaimed WWII epic.

The heavily-pregnant actor returns to the US later this week to honour her press and red carpet commitments for the film, in which she delivers her strongest performance to date.

But she intends to give birth in Adelaide.

Teresa Palmer on the red carpet with director Mel Gibson. Picture: Getty Images

“I am flying back to Australia at exactly 36 weeks pregnant, which is the cut-off point,” she said.

Palmer and Webber recently bought a house and some land in the actress’s hometown. The couple intends to spend Christmas at the property, along with Bodhi, Isaac and their new baby.

They will fly back to Los Angeles in the New Year.

Palmer, who after making nine films back to back, took a break from acting in 2016, is hoping to start work almost immediately.

“I would like to just get into things and take my sons with me to work if I can manage to get a couple of jobs at the beginning of the year,” she says.

“That’s when the majority of films get green-lit.”

Palmer’s return will also coincide with the launch of the US awards season, which might be a smart move given the enthusiastic reviews for Hacksaw Ridge in influential trade magazines such as Variety after it premiered at the Venice Film Festival last month.

Originally published as Teresa Palmer on being a mum, stepmum and star of Hacksaw Ridge